Iran Redline

In this post we're continuing our deep dive into Iran's research on novel chemical weapons, which we think is being spearheaded by SPND. You can read the first part of this work here . In that article, we revealed that Iran's internationally-certified chemical weapons research laboratory, the DCRL, is co-located with and probably controlled by an SPND entity, the Shahid Meisami Research Group.   In this article, we pinpoint the person responsible for Iran's work on novel chemical weapons - and his close ties to SPND.   The man behind Iran's novichok work   Dr Mehran Babri ( مهران ببری , ID: 0050111078) is one of Iran's foremost experts on the science of chemical weapons. With more than 25 years of experience in chemistry, he's an expert in gas chromotograph mass spectrometry - an extremely precise means of measuring chemical compounds, and of detecting the presence of chemical weapon agents in environmental samples. Babri's published research...

Today, we can reveal that the primary Iranian laboratory responsible for work on chemical warfare agents, including novichoks, has frighteningly close ties to SPND (سازمان پژوهش و نوآوری دفاعی), the shadowy organization that ran Iran's pre-2003 nuclear weapons program and continues to dabble in dual-use research with WMD applications.  We'll also reveal in our next post that the main Iranian scientist responsible for synthesizing these agents is on the SPND payroll.  And, even more disturbingly, that this individual has also spearheaded Iran's efforts to infiltrate and undermine the international organization charged with preventing the proliferation of chemical weapons. How do we know all this? Read on... Iran and chemical weapons: some background At face value, Iran abhors chemical weapons. Iran is one of the few states to have suffered wide-scale chemical weapon (CW) use against its population, and has maintained a famously strong public stance against CWs  since the c...